Alcohol: women vs men

Alcohol: WOMEN VS. MEN
How often women tend to drink and what happens to their bodies when they do is
different when compared to men.

• Self-report surveys of men and women in the United States show that alcohol
  use is more prevalent among men than women.
• Men are more likely than women to become alcohol dependent.
• Binge drinking (i.e., consumption of five or more drinks per occasion on 5 or
  more days in the past month) is most common among women ages 18 to 25.
• Among racial groups, women’s drinking is more prevalent among whites,
  although black women are more likely to drink heavily.
• Women absorb and metabolize alcohol differently than men.
• Women generally have less body water than men of similar body weight, so that
  women achieve higher concentrations of alcohol in the blood after drinking equivalent amounts of alcohol.
• Women DO appear to eliminate alcohol from the blood faster than men.
• This finding may be explained by women’s higher liver volume per unit lean
  body mass, because alcohol is metabolized almost entirely in the liver.

• Ability to Dilute Alcohol

• WOMEN: Average Total Body Water: 52%
  MEN: Average Total Body Water: 61%

• Ability to Metabolize Alcohol

• WOMEN: Have a smaller quantity of dehydrogenase, an enzyme that breaks down
  alcohol.
  MEN: Have a larger quantity of dehydrogenase, which allows them to break down
  the alcohol they take in more quickly.

• Hormonal Factors, Part 1

• WOMEN: Premenstrual hormonal changes cause intoxication to set in faster during
  the days right before a woman gets her period.
  MEN: Their susceptibility to getting drunk does not fluctuate dramatically at certain
  times of the month.

• Hormonal Factors, Part 2

• WOMEN: Alcohol increases estrogen levels. Birth control pills or other medicine with estrogen increase intoxication.
  MEN: Alcohol also increases estrogen levels in men. Chronic alcoholism has been
  associated with loss of body hair and muscle mass, development of swollen breasts
  and shrunken testicles, and impotence.
  Source: NIAAA
  Source: http://www.factsontap.org